The last week in Germany - Auf Wiedersehen

On Saturday Lois moved out of Eichstätt. It was sad leaving the town that was where we had both stayed during our first weeks in Germany. Although Lois was relieved to be finally leaving, it's impossible not to feel a little sentimental when you leave somewhere that has played such a role in your life. We wheeled Lois' cases through the town, and as we did so, I'm pretty sure we made everyone aware of our departure, since the wheels of the cases being pulled over the cobbles of the town made quite a din! We caught the train to Regensburg and returned to my flat, which will be our home for this final week.

On Sunday we made our way to Nuremburg since I was desperate to watch the final stage of the Bayern Rundfahrt, or Tour of Bavaria, cycle race. We arrived in good time and were able to get a prime spot next to the finish line. With a few hours to kill we just chilled on the roadside, chatting and enjoying the sun. Fortunately for me, I have a very patient and understanding girlfriend who didn't complain about being bored once. As the race arrived, the crowd grew and as the riders completed each of the 10 laps of the circuit around the city of Nuremburg, the atmosphere began to grow. By the end, the crowd was going crazy! It was great to see Geraint Thomas, a British cyclist, win the overall race. Following the finish, I dragged Lois over to the team buses, which is where the riders had gone once they had crossed the line. As we wandered around the area I began to squeal like a young child, as professional cyclists, cyclists I had watched on TV, were standing right in front of me. I searched out my favourite, pre-printed picture at the ready, approached, got an autograph and a photo too, before he disappeared inside the bus. I was buzzing! I had just met my favourite cyclist and my idol! Once I had calmed down, we searched out the Team Sky bus and waited for the winner to return to the bus following his podium duties. I was also fortunate to get a picture with him too, which I'm really proud about. I had such an awesome day! I must also thank Lois for putting up with her cycling fanatical boyfriend for the entire day, for standing around for hours and for also being my photographer!

We had a perfect viewing spot right next to the finish line

The oldest professional cyclist and one of the most admired.
Jens Voigt, a German, is my hero and idol and I was ecstatic to meet him

And the winner of the race, and fellow Brit, Geraint Thomas.

Monday was a day around the flat. I spent a few hours cleaning prior to an inspection from the landlady the following day and we also did a little packing, to ease the process at the end of the week. We're both really surprised at how much stuff we have and it's pretty touch and go whether we can get all our stuff within the weight limit set by the airline! It's going to be a relief once we're home!

On Tuesday we made our way to Ingolstadt, about an hour away from Regensburg. If you mention Ingolstadt to any German, they automatically think 'Audi'. Ingolstadt is home to the biggest Audi factory in the world with 36,000 employees producing up 2,600 cars per day. That's right. Per.Day. We had booked a tour of the factory and we were excited. Neither of us had ever been inside a car production factory and seeing as though we have both lived so close to such a significant place, we decided we simply had to. At the start of the tour we were loaded onto a bus to take us to our first sight (the factory is built over such a big area that buses are needed to reach the different parts!) First of all we saw the very beginning of car production. Sheets of metal being pressed together to make the various parts, before being welded and slowly beginning to look like something you can actually drive. The interesting thing about the first part of the tour, was that we hardly saw any workers. All the welding, measuring and cutting is done by machines. These Robots work almost as if they are alive, spinning and turning, stretching and darting around the frames of the cars. They move so fast and work so efficiently. They are precise to one tenth of a millimetre and the whole system runs like clockwork. Conveyer belts and lifts were moving all around us, carrying the semi-completed parts to other areas of the factory. After this first part, we then made our way to the assembly line which is where the parts are actually built up into fully functional cars. Although there are also lots of machines in this area too, here we saw lots of employees working hard, doing their specific jobs. The employees stand on a large conveyer belt and thus move through the factory with the car, which allows them to work smoothly. Employees change tasks every two hours to ensure they don't get bored and things don't get too repetitive. This was one of the many aspects of how well Audi, as a company, look after their staff. Work stations are ergonomically designed meaning workers barely have to move to reach the different tools whilst machines lift the cars around the workers, also making it easier for the employee. It was fascinating to see the various parts of the car being added bit by bit and then seeing the final product at the end. As I said before, the factory runs like clockwork. It is the epitome of a German factory and just how you'd imagine. It was obvious just how wealthy Audi are as a company and we saw first hand how attractive they are to work for. It was really interesting to see top quality car production on such a large scale.

Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take
pictures inside the factory, so this is all I got!

Fresh Audis all wrapped up and ready to go.

Once back in Regensburg, I had a visit from my landlady who was coming to check that her flat was still in one piece. Fortunately, for the both of us, she was pleased with what she found. Lois and I then enjoyed making, what will be, our final Bavarian dinner in the flat before watching a film.

On Wednesday, it was a day of important errands. First of all I returned my bike to my friend who had lent it to me during my time here. I have used the bike almost every single day and I honestly don't know what I would have done without it, so I was very appreciative. Following this, it was to the bank to sort out my flat deposit with my landlady and after that, I closed my bank account. Since it was sunny Lois and I grasped the opportunity to enjoy a final ice cream in Regensburg. And what an ice cream it was! We both got huge ice creams, covered in cream and chocolaty toppings and it was a delicious treat to end on. Finally, I went to the citizens bureau to officially announce my leaving and therefore deregister as a citizen of Regensburg. I felt sad that I was no longer officially a 'Regensburger', but I look forward to being a British resident once again.

On Thursday we both felt a little bit lost. It reminded us both of the feeling we had on our last day in England back in September. What do you do on your last day?! We felt like we should be downing litres of beer or guzzling sausages but in the end we opted for a last walk around Oberisling, taking in the scenery and appreciating it for one last time. It was then time to finish packing and cleaning. As I've mentioned before, packing is difficult as we both have so much stuff. So the afternoon consisted of lots of squeezing, squashing, huffing and puffing, before we finally managed to seal our busting suitcases.

Tomorrow (Friday) is the day we have been waiting for. Time to go home. It's almost surreal to think we have only one more night in Germany. We really can't wait to be back, yet we're not as desperate to be home as we were a few weeks ago. We both agree that having an extra week in Germany to finalise everything and to enjoy some of the attractions we had missed out on earlier in the year, was a good idea. Tomorrow morning will see us going out for breakfast in Regensburg where we will 'fill our boots' so that we have enough energy to get us through the day lifting and dragging our suitcases from train to train until finally arriving at the airport at tea time. Then we fly and land back in England at around 21:30.

So it seems that this post will be my final post on my blog. I really don't know how to end it. We've both had a fantastic experience and both feel we've grown up. There have been hard times and sad times but so many more happy times. We've seen so much and learnt lots. I know for a fact that this Year Abroad would have been a lot harder for me without Lois being here, so I feel very fortunate that we were able to share this experience.

Germany has been good to us and I've come to love this country. Like all cultures, there are some aspects that I find not so good, but equally I admire many aspects of Germany. That being said, spending so much time abroad really makes you appreciate your own culture too, so I'm looking forward to re-discovering 'Britishness' once back home.

'Auf Wiedersehen' in German means 'Until we see each other again', and what better way to end. I'm certain I will return to Germany in the near future, so for now Germany, it isn't 'Goodbye', it's simply 'Auf Wiedersehen'.